Lee Grossman, an Apple Watch owner and CBS employee, said he learned of the device’s SOS button after accidentally calling 911.
“I reached for some change in my pocket and all of a sudden my arm started like vibrating,” Mr. Grossman told CBS. “I heard some noises, so I turned and look at my watch and I’m seeing 911 on there.”
“I get that this could be a safety measure, but I was just a little concerned for the dispatchers … They’re wasting time talking to me because my watch accidentally called them and that could be taking away from an emergency,” he continued.
CBS questioned whether cases such as these would increase as Apple adds new emergency features to its smartwatch.
In September 2018, Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 4, which has the ability to detect when a wearer has fallen down. If the smartwatch doesn’t detect any motion from the wearer after one minute, the device automatically initiates an emergency call.
The New York City Police Department told CBS it’s unable to track whether accidental calls come from watches or phones, but numerous cities have reported receiving false emergency calls as a result of new technology.
More articles on health IT:
Apple snags former Microsoft exec to lead ‘smart home’ development
Human API raises $10M to expand consumer health data network
Workplace wearables come with privacy tradeoff for employees
